Well tonight was an experience. I'm kind of bummed out, now that the craziness is over, that the only night I care to go to the fair, it gets cancelled.
It was sprinkling, then raining, and I was so glad to have my umbrella. Me and my aunt huddled under that as long as we could until... REO Speedwagon got two songs in before a fair member got on stage to inform us a storm was heading here in 20 minutes, and everyone needed to seek shelter now. Not tents, but permanent structures.
Jarrod and I got separated from our friends, though we knew they were supposed to be in the livestock pavilion. I finally understand the complaints about AT&T and their unreliable network after this hullabaloo, you couldn't call or text ANYONE. You'd walk past a couple people who had success, but I don't know how.
It was pouring and supposed to hail, so we stayed put despite many people leaving the pavilion. I'm not sure if they had some info we didn't or were deciding to leave on their own.
We finally started wandering around, since there was nothing better to do, and found our group. Not long after that the sheriff came by and said we had to leave, they were closing the grounds. Another storm was set to come through in a half hour and everyone needed to "get to safety" and leave.
We had parked out in the lot next to the stage and weren't too far away, which was a blessing. So we didn't have too far to go, and I'm glad that my leaving the grounds was not at the fate of a bus shuttle. We got to my car (side note, thank GOD I had just done my inhaler about five minutes before all this began) and waited. And waited.
I mean, I guess the whole 'evacuation' went as best as possible, but the parking lots were another story. First of all, no one would let me out. I guess they aren't aware of the 'every other car' unspoken courtesy rule. Or they're just selfish... yeah I'm going with that one. Long story short, we sat still for about 30 minutes before we even moved much. The cops had finally started directing traffic, so things began to move at a good pace. Once we were out of the lot it was fairly smooth sailing. Except for one detail let's not forget about: there was a severe storm going down.
As we continued on to our friend's house it intensified drastically. The final road to his house was the worst. Sirens blaring, the wind was just swirling all around us, rain was blowing sideways, and I could barely see the road. We made it to the driveway and got soaked while dashing for the front door.
Let me also add to this that I hate storms. As soon as that officer told us they were shutting down and we needed to leave, I went into flight mode. I wanted out. I don't like storms, so I really don't like to get caught in them. I like to be at home, with a basement if it's needed. Add to this the cell phones not working aspect, not knowing what the weather was avtually doing, since I am not near a TV, or when we might finally make it out of there, plus knowing my mom is freaking out at home because she knows I hate storms and can't get ahold of us... and I was freaking out way more than I let on to everyone at the time. My leg was actually shaking when the storm got worse while we were driving.
I am so glad we didn't get completely stuck out there. And pretty thankful that my lungs held up. And for my umbrella. I'm so glad this storm is over. Goodnight
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